By Owen Ready
27 December 2007
We’ve had our Mondeo for over three months now and, as its inclusion in our Christmas Wish List would suggest, we’re getting on rather well.
Even when jumping straight into it after courting an Audi R8 for a week, the cabin feels classy and the chassis still fluid and sophisticated. Obviously the performance is in a division or two lower but the engine’s still sonorous and strong although the high kerb weight means it never really feels like a 220bhp saloon.
Motorway cruising is where its talents lie with the long gearing keeps the engine just above tickover and, noticeably improving fuel economy. Unfortunately EF07 VHK has spent most of its life stuck in the quagmire that is London traffic and, resulting in low-20s mpg. Best to stick to the range of TDCi diesels unless you’ve got a company fuel card then. While I’m moaning, the lack of distance sensors is a constant irritation, with parking a constant guessing game. It’s surely only a matter of time until that shapely rear bumper gets a scrape of two.
The rest of the car is hard to fault. It looks classy and expensive, especially on the 18 inch wheels and even the slightly dull green/grey paintwork is finding new fans in the office.
On a practical note it’s incredibly spacious, even with four (slightly overweight) mates on board while the boot is big enough even for Tony Soprano. This really is the only car that a family could ever need; it’ll happily swallow the kids and grandma while keeping dad happy when he takes the long way home.
VHK will be heading to the local dealer in the new year for its (overdue) 6000 mile service during which they’ll hopefully fix the key fob which has decided to give up the ghost, meaning that every entry is accompanied by the alarm, much to the annoyance of my neighbours. We’ll let you know how we get on just as soon as the Christmas pudding’s had time to settle.
Model Ford Mondeo 2.5T Titanium X
Price £23,145
Mileage 6145
Mpg 22.6mpg
Costs so far None